All News articles – Page 1628
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News
Law Society action on panels
I was disappointed to read Melanie Carroll's call for the Law Society to stand up to lenders [see [2010] Gazette, 20 May] . We might all wish for a simple world where such problems could be dismissed so easily. It may help to note the enormous amount of work we ...
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Increasing use of Human Rights Act in court
The number of UK court cases making use of the Human Rights Act 1998 has risen for the first time in seven years, according to research by Sweet & Maxwell. The number of cases using the act grew by 6%, from 327 in the 12 months ...
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Freedom of information: rights of access and endangerment
Section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 exempts public authority information from the general right of access if its disclosure would, or would be likely to, endanger the physical or mental health of any individual and/or the safety of any individual. The term ‘endanger’ is the same as ...
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Data page for May 2010
The data page is the financial rates and data compiled for the Law Society Gazette by MoneyFacts group, the UK's largest supplier of savings and mortgage data. Downloads Download the ...
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Law Society president warns of looming threat to profession’s independence
The Legal Services Board’s proximity to government could threaten the independence of the legal profession, Law Society president Robert Heslett warned last night. In a speech at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, Heslett questioned the need for the LSB’s ‘draconian’ power to seize control ...
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Smile for the camera because Big Brother is watching you
We are all film stars now, according to a 1999 study that estimated London citizens or workers could expect, in a single day, to be filmed by more than 300 CCTV cameras on around 30 separate CCTV systems.
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Referral fees are a distraction
The publication of the Legal Services Board’s research on referral fees has created a debate that, while an important issue for the profession to discuss, distracts attention from the real issue for firms.
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Law firms fail to maximise internet exposure
Law firms are failing to maximise their exposure to online consumers by improving their rankings with search engines, a report has shown. A study of by consultants Greenlight showed that 1.2m searches were performed in February for legal-related keywords, with 450,000 searches for ‘solicitor’. ...
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You are an EU citizen: do something about it
Much ink has been spilled recently about what it felt like to be a UK citizen during the changes leading to the coalition government – we were being ignored/our wishes were being followed; we were voting for change/we did not know what we wanted; etc (in each case, delete ...
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MoJ to cut £325m
The government is to cut £325m from the Ministry of Justice’s budget, it said today. The cuts will form part of £6.2bn in savings aimed at reducing the UK’s deficit, outlined by the chief secretary to the Treasury David Laws today. The ...
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MoJ unveils new ministers’ portfolios
The Ministry of Justice has announced the roles of its new ministerial team overseen by justice secretary Kenneth Clarke, with the legal aid brief handed to former City lawyer Jonathan Djanogly. Tom McNally, minister of state and deputy leader of the House of Lords, will have ...
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Will scrapping HIPs make a real difference?
One of the first steps taken by David Cameron’s new coalition government was the announcement scrapping home information packs, which will be suspended from midnight tonight...
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Roll survivors
Some jobs are known to be high risk. Firefighting, for example, or mountain rescue. But did you know that being in the upper echelons of the judiciary can also put one’s life in jeopardy? Addressing an audience at Lincoln’s Inn recently, master of the rolls Lord Neuberger – who must ...
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Music man
Rock star Andy Booth (pictured), who also happens to be head of company commercial and creative industries at Manchester firm Turner Parkinson, has just been appointed director of the company behind Manchester music venue Band on the Wall. Booth, a specialist music lawyer since 1994, acts for the likes of ...
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London legal walk
Led by lord chief justice Igor Judge and master of the rolls Lord Neuberger (pictured with Law Society president Robert Heslett), 4,500 lawyers, judges and students took part in the sixth London legal walk this week. Some £400,000 was raised for legal advice and pro bono agencies.
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Home information packs suspended
After a week in office, the new coalition government today announced that the requirement for home sellers to provide home information packs will be suspended pending primary legislation to abolish them entirely. The suspension of the controversial sellers packs will take effect from midnight on Friday ...
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Lawyer fears over Tories’ FSA U-turn
City lawyers have criticised an apparent U-turn by the Conservatives over their plans to scrap the Financial Services Authority (pictured) and hand its fraud-busting powers to a new agency. According to reports, the Conservative manifesto plan to scrap the FSA has been scuppered by the Liberal ...
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The last farewell
As probate lawyers know only too well, there are an awful lot of folk out there who still haven’t got round to making a will (it is, of course, at the very top of Obiter’s to-do list, and has been for years). This means the estates of some disorganised types ...
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Moving towards a fairer system
We understand the reluctance of Simon Osborne (see [2010] Gazette, 13 May, 13), as somebody who does only pro bono work and does not hold client funds, to pay the full practising certificate fee.
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Exclusive: QualitySolicitors launches high street network
Law firm marketing alliance QualitySolicitors has launched a national high street branch network in a bid to become the first ‘household name’ legal brand, the Gazette can exclusively reveal. Today sees the opening of the first 15 QualitySolicitors branches across the UK, in a strategy described as a ‘game changer’ ...